afloat
adjective · adverb
Simple meaning
Covered with water, bearing floating objects.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhflohtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əfˈloʊt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Covered with water, bearing floating objects.
Borne on the water; floating
“Despite the damage, the little boat remained afloat all night.”
figurative
Covered, overspread, filled (with or in something).
Floating in the air; flowing freely; not tied, braided, etc. (of hair or clothing)
of an organization
Having just enough resources to continue to operate; barely able to pay expenses; (of a private individual, family, etc.) keeping one's head above water.
In, or found while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water.
adverb
In or into a state of floating.
In, or while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water; at sea.
Under water (bearing floating objects).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Covered with water, bearing floating objects.
Used this way, afloat is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.